AU Lust and Learning
by PikachuSavesTheDay
Summary: When Maka Albarn decides to become a kindergarten teacher, one of the parents, Soul Eater, tries to become her potential boyfriend. Will this have an effect on his daughter, Mary, or his crazy ex wife Liz? AND ARE WE JUST GOING TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT THERE IS A POSSIBLE LEMON INVOLVED HERE? (Hence the title!) Yeah so read it. :3 I love you.
1. Chapter 1

**_OKAY SO I GOT THIS GREAT IDEA FOR A STORY LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS CONTEMPLATING LIFE IN THE BATHTUB! I really hope you like it. :3 If enough people like it I'll make it super long and continue it for a while. :DD So yeah same thing as always: favorite, follow, or review for a shout-out in my next chapter! :DD_**

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Maka smoothed down her skirt and clapped her hands together excitedly. _Today starts a brand new school year!_ she thought. She hurried around the classroom, placing this and that in different spots even though it wasn't really needed. Since she started teaching kindergarten, a whole new part has been added to her already studious attitude. It was a time to buckle down and get to work, is what she always thought of the beginning of a new school year. The only thing about the ending of the summer vacation that troubled her were the upcoming frantic, overworked, and annoying parents that constantly nagged her about her ways of teaching. Nevertheless, Maka was enthusiastic to teach. And she had something of a spark of joy for this year. That is, until the horde of kids bursted through the school doors, screaming and throwing things.

Students poured into the classroom, occupying the chairs and tables, flooding the room with cries and screams of despair over the new year. Maka's bright, hopeful smile flattened into a straight, strict line. Out of all the parents that were pulling the children's hair just to get them settled, one caught her eye. One cool, suave character whose features were highlighted in the bright lights of the classroom. The epitome of coolness and structure walked right into that classroom, leading his calm, collected daughter to a chair with her name on it in bold print. He muttered something to her, and she nodded with content, hanging onto all his words as if they were his final.

His glistening white hair was combed straight and curled slightly behind his ears and was held back from his eyes with a headband. Bright red eyes searched his daughters face for recognition of his sentences and understanding of her mission for the day. His large hands encased her dainty, ladylike ones. He wore a black leather jacket with bits of yellow on it with some simple blue jeans and leather boots. There was no way in hell this child of his was born on purpose, she knew. No way. Yet somehow he was the one who ended up with this child, indicating that he screwed a terrible drug user or maybe even an abusive woman. Who knows?

"Okay, people, quiet down," Maka started off. Her beginning-of-the-year speech was always the most important and required a lot of thinking beforehand. She planned a lot for this speech and was completely ready for any accusations-er, _questions_ that the _eager_ parents had for her. "The beginning of a new school year always brings on some stress for the parents and most definitely the children as well. You may be wondering, for example, _Should I even trust this stranger to care for my small child? _ I am here today because I love knowledge and giving those kids the step in the right direction for success. I most certainly hope that you parents will give me the benefit of the doubt and soon learn that your kids will not only enjoy school, but gain everything they need to take that extra step!" Maka then stamped her foot on the floor as if to indicate a step. The crowd did not look pleased.

Maka sighed, "You may leave your checks on the way out." They all scattered, except for one desperate-looking mother and, of course, the hottie that Maka spotted just a few moments ago. The mother rushed up to her first. "Ms. Albarn, you must listen. My boy, he-well, let's just say that he has some..._potty_ issues...and, well-" Maka cut her off right there.

"No need. As long as you send the kid in diapers, we'll take care of the rest," she said with a smile. The mother's droopy, tired eyes softened. Her matted hair was sticking out in all different directions, indicating that she hadn't had a lot of sleep lately.

"Thank you _so_ much, Mrs. Albarn," she said before rushing out of the building. Maka sighed and studied the kids over. Some were crying, screaming, hanging onto their parent's legs. That particular white-haired man's daughter was quite a sight, though. Her long, white hair reached the middle of her back and her bangs curled inward towards her face. Her bold, red eyes had flecks of blue in them and searched the classroom, taking everything in one at a time. She was quiet, but not in an introverted way. No, she was tentative, and something else too-

"Mrs. Albarn," the man's voice sliced through her strayed thoughts from behind, making her jump.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, studying his face up close now. His voice was deep, and strong, and also protective.

"Would you mind if I stayed for the first couple of days to watch my girl? She's...uh..." he looked back at her, "Well, we made a deal that if I stayed with her for the first week of school, she'd get ready quicker and not drag her feet on the driveway when we're leaving." Maka chuckled and nodded.

"I don't think there'd be any trouble with that," she said, tearing down a bright pink sheet of paper that hung on the wall. It was entitled _Parental Rules_ and the first one was that all parents must leave before class has started. The man smirked at her, obviously knowing what it said. He laid a hand on one of her shoulders, causing her to tense up.

"You should really loosen up, teacher," he said in a suave voice, putting emphasis on the word "teacher." She was frozen for a moment before furrowing her brow and smacking his hand off of her. Perhaps she was correct about her earlier thought of his being a lecher. She shot him a glance of ice before spitting, "You may sit down now, sir."

"Soul," he said, smirking. Maka was then presented with the oddity of a full mouth of sharpened, shark-like teeth that made her shiver.

"Alright then, class, if you would please be seated..." she said. None of the kids obeyed. They just continued to bounce around, through toys, and babble nonsense to each other. Maka bit her lip, suddenly realizing that this was her first year of teaching, and maybe she should've studied up a bit more.

After chasing the kids around, trying to teach them a song, and cleaning up snacks, it was finally time for Maka to just rest for thirty minutes while the kids had nap time. She sat back in her chair at her office and watched through the window while the kids rested.

"Funny how hyper they can be one second and sleepy the next," Soul said, startling Maka. She gasped and her pencil flew out of her hand and into her coffee cup. She glared at him and pulled it out, wiping it down before placing it back in its place.

"Yes," she said, "funny." Soul smiled and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"So, teacher, how's the minimum wage doin' ya?" he clucked. Maka rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I really _enjoy_ teaching the kids," she hissed.

"Ahh...so _that's_ why you were ripping her hair out at that widow's un-potty trained son," he chuckled. Maka puffed out her cheeks stuck her lip out as she did when she was angry.

"You know, that's really cute. I highly doubt I could ever make my face look exactly like an octopus," he laughed. Her face grew red as she squinted back at him.

"You're lucky I'm a teacher, otherwise this book her," she picked up an encyclopedia, "would be smashed into your skull right about now," she hissed. Soul just smirked as he walked behind her desk to look at her.

"I dunno, you don't seem that strong for some reason...I can't really put a finger on why, though..." he teased. Maka sighed and decided that she should just pretend he wasn't there, clogging up her space and breathing hot air down her neck that made her feel really, really...

_Wait_ a minute! Why the hell is she thinking this?! She dismissed the thoughts from her head before the realization of how long it's been since anyone even touched her snaked its way back into her head. She cursed her inability to get a boyfriend and slowly came back to real life as Soul was massaging her shoulders and she didn't even notice.

"W-What are you doing?!" she shrieked, jumping up and falling over her trashcan, whose contents spilled all over the floor. She smacked her hand against her forehead and was just about to let her rage spill out when she realized that there were about thirty sleeping kids in the other room. Since it was a private school, Maka was expected to be of the utmost class, and that meant not waking up a whole room of children by screaming at one of their dads. She took in a careful breath and let it out before reaching down to clean up all the papers that landed on the floor.

"Seriously, I think if you just got a massage or took a bath or something you'd be _way_ less uptight," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Uptight?!" You think _I'm_ uptight?!" she yelled. Soul chuckled before nodding, unable to keep his smile back. Maka pursed her lips and made her way to the door, about ready to wake the kids for a lesson on the alphabet. Before she could even reach the handle, though, Soul's soothing voice beckoned her.

"Sorry, Ms. Albarn. I'll stay out of your way now," he said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, but she couldn't tell why. He had to have known how obnoxious he was being. Yet when he swiftly walked past her and into the classroom, she knew. His pride was hurt. Yep, poor little Soul's pride was hurt because a girl didn't want his strong, robust...

_What the fuck am I thinking?!_ Maka screamed internally. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed as she walked through the door and rang a loud but soothing bell to wake the kids up.

As she continued with her lesson plan, Soul watched her. He watched as she captivated the children somehow with her voice that made everything seem of utmost importance and required immediate remembrance. A voice that somehow entranced him as he was somehow zapped into a small, innocent child again that was learning the alphabet. When the day was at last over and parents were scurrying to grab their kids and run, he was still in a daze until his daughter silently pulled on his sleeve.

"Mmm yes dear?" he asked, staring off at the space where Maka was standing a few seconds ago.

"It's time to go," her small voice uttered, pulling him back into reality.

"OH, yes," he said, getting up and making his way towards the door. "How did you like your first day?"

"It was okay," she responded. He nodded and lifted her into a car seat before climbing in his truck too.

"Do I have to go see Mommy today?" she asked. Soul shook his head.

"Mommy has been, uh..._detained_ from her home for a while. She's...uh..." he stuttered.

"It's okay, you don't have to lie," she said, and stared out the window.

"Right..." he muttered under his breath and drove off, the image of Maka teaching still in his head. For whatever reason, he just could not get her out of his mind. Even if he had been divorced only three months ago. No matter what, he still had the idea that maybe, just maybe, she would want to go on a date with him. After all, she had been staring at him before her speech began. Then again, everyone was. Everyone always is. And always will. He sighed at this realization.

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**_I MADE THIS AS LONG AS I COULD, I SWEAR. Okay so yeah I tried to write more, but it all was just plain shit so I deleted about 1000 words. XD Guess I'm still dosed with Writer's Block. It's so terrible that I just sat there for ten minutes, wondering what it was called. Hmm...WELL, ANYWAYS-review, follow, or favorite for a shout-out and I'll love you forever! :) G'night!_**


	2. Chapter 2

Hellooooo~! Shout-outs to: blackstarlover31, Depyriouse, SnowTamashi Ai, FruityUnicorn01, BeriForeverFan, roro213421, 88 Fish Swimming Backwards, Cherryberry998, Smile-thebestthingintheworld, lindseyloo44, The daughter of rain and snow, and mAD aS A pHAntOM. YEY! :DD Soo many shout-outs. :3 Okie, well, let's get started, shall we? xD

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Soul ran his left hand through his ruffled locks of white hair and stared at his daughter, Mary. "You could at least try to eat," he said. She shook her head, pushing the bowl of cereal away from her body.

"I've eaten nothing but nasty cornflakes for three days!" she exclaimed, pouting. Soul laid his head down on the table and sighed.

"Just wait for Daddy to get paid in a couple of days-then we can get you more food. Until then, you're stuck with this. Sorry," he said. And he truly was. There was no telling how much money he'd be able to spend on food this time. Maybe I can go for food stamps, he thought, pondering this for a moment. Mary groaned and shoveled a spoonful of the soggy stuff into her unforgiving mouth. She forced every last bite into her body until it was all gone before jumping from her highchair and waddling to her room. Soul stared at the place she was formerly sitting at and sighed.

How can I get Maka Albarn to go out with me...? Hmm...He sat and thought for a long time until he eventually fell asleep, crashing onto the table and snoring until Mary poked him awake.

"It's school time, Daddy," she said in a hushed voice. Soul awoke with a start, a piece of paper sticking to his face that was wet with drool. Mary made a face of disgust and moved past him to pull her shoes on. Soul suddenly started to panic as he realized just how terrible he must look. Going out in public while you look undoubtedly high was probably the least cool thing he could think of. It wasn't Mary's fault, of course...He ran a hand through his thick, now greasy hair and sighed. Bags have formed under his eyes and he rose to lift Mary into her car seat.

"Maybe I shouldn't go to school with you today," Soul said. He let that sink in for a bit.

"Why? You said you would if I said I would go at all," she responded. Sometimes Mary reminded Soul of a really old person with a lot of patience and life experience. It was weird to him.

"Well, you see," Soul said, yawning, "Daddy didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and he didn't shower, either. It'd be kind of embarrassing for Daddy to try to seduce Mrs. Albarn if he had bags under his eyes and unkempt hair, don't you think?" Mary giggled behind him.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked, staring at her with furrowed eyebrows in the rearview mirror.

"Am I getting a better mommy, Daddy?" she asked. Soul bit his lip. Maybe it would have been better not to tell his innocent six-year-old daughter about what her mommy did. About why she couldn't visit her mommy or talk to her on the phone. Maybe it would have been wise not to make Mary hate his ex wife. Eh, who cares? he thought, rolling his eyes at his own thoughts.

"Maybe, hopefully," Soul answered. She smiled.

"So can I call her mommy in class?" she asked excitedly. Soul's eyes widened as he shook his head furiously.

"You do that, and there won't be any mommy for quite some time," he said, trying to choose his words carefully. Mary nodded, staring out the window. Soul made a promise to himself that he'd never let his child on the bus-once you put that kid on there, they suddenly know every cuss word in the book, every possible swear and every weird, probably untrue fact about sex. The idea of his sweet little daughter suddenly doing all this stuff made him shudder, even if that was just about the best possible way to sum up his personality.

As he parked his car in the small parking lot, Soul looked back at Mary to make sure she was okay. "You ready for a new day?" he asked, rubbing his red eyes. Mary beamed and nodded, unbuckling herself. Soul held onto her hand as she jumped out of the car. Soul led her into the schoolhouse and pushed the door open. Suddenly, as always, every mom in the room was staring at him. He managed a smile to one of them, and continued to walk towards Maka.

"Whoa, whoa. Get enough sleep last night, tiger?" she said, smirking. Soul let out a breath and brushed his hair out of his eyes with his hand.

"Not even close," he yawned. Maka chuckled at set a hand on his shoulder. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "You're going to have to try harder than that." Soul suddenly felt really embarrassed, especially because he had a death grip on Mary's hand and she was trying to run away to play with her friends.

"Yeah, well, I might not be staying long anyways," he said nonchalantly. Maka just stared at him.

"Is that so? Well, I'll be seeing you soon then," she said, and turned to talk to one of the moms that approached her. Soul pursed his lips and sat down in a tiny chair, spreading his legs out like he would at home. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and sighed as he listened to Maka's conversation with the mom.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Albarn."

"Oh, my pleasure! I love seeing kids happy and learning."

"Well, I'll see you around, Mrs. Albarn. My ex husband is about to meet me in court-I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, goodbye."

Soul thought about this for a moment, how the lady was seeing her ex husband in court. he was suddenly taken back to when Liz had the baby.

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They were in the hospital, and Liz was just having Mary, when Soul bursted through the doors, gasping for air. "I'm here! I'm here..." he said, clutching his heart. Liz was in too much pain to register that her husband was there, but once Mary was out and lively, she went ballistic. In her fit of rage, she managed to throw several items at him, including a shot, before the doctors had her pinned on the bed. Soul was nothing less than shocked. The only reason he was late was because there was a raging ice storm outside, and traffic wasn't at its greatest peak. As he spit out apologies, saying it was uncool of him and that it wouldn't happen again, but she just kept on going.

After she calmed down, she uttered the words, "I should've known," before walking out the door. Soul was really confused as he picked Mary up in his arms and soothed her. After that, he decided to name her Mary, since that was what Liz wanted. He was then desperate, and had to rely on some lady at an Orphanage to take care of her until she was old enough. Then he took her home and single-handedly raised his daughter. Liz wanted a divorce, so that was what she got. None of this made any sense at all to Soul until he found out from Liz's sister, Patty, that she was put in the loony bin. It all went by so quickly. Patty soon became Soul's friend and babysitter for Mary, but they never went any further than that.  
Once it was all over, Soul set out to find a new girlfriend to help him support Mary, because all she ever wanted was a mother...

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Soul was snapped back to reality when Maka ruffled his hair a bit. "Oh, hi," he muttered. Maka smiled.

"It's about naptime," she said.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired..."

"No, idiot, for the kids."

"Oh." Maka led him into her office again and sat him down in a plush chair.

"You fell asleep for a while, muttering things every now and then. I was just going to leave you there, but what if you woke up the kids?" she said. Soul nodded.

"So about that date," Maka said, staring at his sleepy, tortured eyes. The word "date" made him perk right up, though.

"I decided that I'll go ahead and say yes. I mean, what have I got to lose? You seem like a pretty good father," she continued. Soul's face brightened, but it didn't show for long.

"I knew you'd say yes...There's no way you could have resisted this," he motioned to his body. Maka made a disgusted look.

"Oh I could resist," she reassured him. But she was already smiling again, so it didn't have any effect on him. He sat up in the chair lazily and exhaled.

"So...Saturday?" he asked. She nodded.

"Alright. Sounds good to me," he yawned. Maka let herself stare at him for a while. His messy hair just seemed so...what was the word...appealing? Desirable? Yeah, let's go with that. His eyes were a piercing bright red on a daily basis, but this time they were a darker red, a shade that captured her. Whenever he yawned-which was often-she could see his perfectly aligned, shark-like teeth that threatened to make his lip bleed at any moment, but never did. She wondered how many cold sores the guy got from biting the inside of his cheek. It must be awful, she thought. Especially if he doesn't use cream, which guys usually don't-WAIT why am I thinking about cold sores?! She rolled her eyes at herself and studied him some more.

"You gunna keep staring at me?" he smirked. "'Cause I'll let you, if you want. I have no problem with it." Maka blushed and looked away, dreading how long the awkward nap time was. Soul kicked back and relaxed until it was time to take Mary home. He told her about the news of the date and she got all excited. Her eyes sparkled and he loved it when they did that. So he picked her up, swung her around, laughing, and set her back down. It was going to be a long two days until their date.

Maka sat back in a chair at the dining table of her small apartment that she shared with nothing but a cat. She thought about how she agreed to go out on a date with a stranger, but after worrying for about an hour, she figured that if he was a rapist, he would've raped her already. Also, rapists aren't good fathers. So yeah. That was her proof. She went to bed and allowed herself one more thought about how sexy-yeah, that's the word for it-Soul looked.

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Ugh, I'm sorry, guys. I'm SORRY. this chapter sucks ass and it's super short. Sorry. . I'm struggling to get to the actual plot line. XD It will come in the next chapter, I promise. Anywhore, be a doll and review, follow, and favorite so you can get a shout-out in my next chapter! Okay thank you buh bye sweetie pie.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hey guys! Tbh I'm still working on the plot line to this story. Okay. Shout-outs to: Cherryberry998, roro213421, Fan-Girl-Lover, Ellie990, 8emmy,edwardcullen23, and dallysbear. I'm kind of annoyed right now so maybe I can channel my negatiove energy into a really awesome chapter. ^_^_**

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****The next few days for Soul were agonizing. He tapped his foot impatiently the whole time, anticipating the day to come. Maka stopped next to him and smirked. "Excited?" she asked. But before Soul could even try to come up with a witty retort, she walked away, leading a horde of kids in another direction. Soul sighed, cursing his inability to sit still or even wait patiently. He didn't know why this date was so important to him until the answer smacked him in the face-it was his first date since his divorce. He's been living in his highschool body since Liz moved away, staring at girls, some mild flirting-not even realizing that once he went on this date, he would be _officially_ on the market again.

Soul didn't expect anything to come from this date. He just figured that after it was over, he could relax again and feel like he was _truly_ a single father. Not that that feeling was a good one or anything; he just wanted to feel like he could get a girl. Even one that he's never met. Even one that read books in her spare time. Even one that knew every single fact about children that he's thrown to the wind. Soul suddenly grew very nervous, and he remained nervous even after he laid his head down to sleep Friday night. His dreams were a flurry of nervousness, consuming his body and making his head throb from overuse. Eventually he got to sleep, and was only awoken by the faint sound of cartoons coming from the living room.

_Mary...!_ he thought. He didn't have a babysitter, and it was already _Saturday_. Who would take a babysitting job that was only mere _hours_ away?! Soul panicked, pacing back and forth, trying to think up a name-_any_ name-that belonged to a babysitter. Then it all clicked. He snatched the phone from its hinges and stabbed the numbers on it. The line rang four, five times until a loud, high-pitched voice answered.

"Hello?"

"PATTY!" Soul shouted, his desperateness showing. "Uh...Patty, I need your help. Can you babysit tonight? I'm going on a date, and-"

"A DATE?! Oooh, who's it with? Is she pretty? Does she have long hair?" patty giggled.

"Uh, yes! Her hair is beautiful. But seriously. Can you do it tonight? I need you. i swear," he said, his hands shaking.

"Hmm...I dunno...I was planning on going to the movies tonight..."

"Patty, _please_! I'll pay you double!"

Patty giggled, "Okay! See you at...?"

"Eight; no, seven. Be here by seven, alright? Don't forget," he said. Patty managed an "okay" before Soul slammed the phone back on the wall and pumped his fist in the air. He then sighed and looked to the mirror. He walked into the living room moments after he pulled on some pajama pants and found Mary playing with her stuffed animals. She coughed and wheezed a couple times before smiling and greeting him.

"G'morning, Daddy!" she cheered. Soul smiled back at her and ruffled her hair a bit. Mary always had this terrible cough and a lot of headaches and night sweats, but Soul usually just figured she had a cold. Mary's sheer happiness always made it seem as if nothing was wrong at all.

"Listen, Daddy's going on a date tonight, so Patty will be coming to babysit, alright?" he said, holding her face in his large hands.

"Okay," she said, turning her attention back to her toys. Soul nodded and stood up to take a shower. Something caught his eye, though, right before he was about to walk away. Yes, there was definitely a dry patch of blood on Mary's neck where her hair was pushed aside.

"Mary, honey, are you bleeding?" he asked, worried. She looked back at him.

"I think I was last night," she said. She seemed so utterly unworried about it that it scared him.

"From what, sweetheart?' he asked, picking her up to clean it off.

"I fell," she said.

"On what, a knife?" Soul asked sarcastically. Mary giggled and shook her head.

"No, on the carpet. My head started bleeding. It didn't stop for a while."

"Why didn't you call me?!" he asked, slightly agitated now.

"It didn't hurt!" Soul pressed his lips together in a tight line and started the water.

"I'm going to clean it, how do you feel today?" he asked.

"I'm alright. Kind of weak, though," she said. He swore, she always sounded a thousand years old when she spoke.

"Are you in pain?" he asked. Mary usually had a lot of joint pain for whatever reason, but Soul still insisted that she didn't need to go to a doctor. She shook her head. _Thank God._ He cleaned her up before getting in the shower, letting himself worry about her to full extent.

* * *

Maka spent the whole day readying herself for her first date in what felt like forever. _How long has it been? Since highschool? _she thought. She had only had two boyfriends. One was going through their emo phase pretty hard, and he had black hair and a tongue piercing. He took a fancy to her when she was escorting her brother to get a tattoo. He was the one who designed her brother's arm with a needle, which made Maka cringe. He thought it was extremely cute, and, asked her out on her very first date. Their relationship only lasted about two months, though, because her overprotective father, Spirit, insisted on dedicating his life to splitting them apart.

Her second relationship lasted a good year before they broke up. It was her Junior year of highschool, right after she broke up with the last guy. He was a quiet one. He rarely said anything and claimed to only open up to Maka. They would stay home and read books together by the fire. Spirit didn't like him, either, but whenever he complained, Maka would always answer, "At least it's not Jacob!" and he would shut up. These two ended up breaking up because he was moving, and they wouldn't be able to see each other anymore. She spent a long time trying to get over this one.

Maka thought about her exes while trying to pick out what to wear. Soul had said to wear something casual, because you don't go on extremely fancy first dates unless you're an extremely fancy guy, which he's not. She finally just settled on a black, long-sleeve blouse with some blue jeans. She rolled the sleeves up neatly and admired herself in the mirror as she pulled her hair from that messy bun that she slept in to a slightly curled hairdo. After many hours of preparation and a change of outfit four times until she finally just came back to the original, Maka was ready, and with two hours to spare. She hoped that the directions she gave Soul were clear enough, he did seem a little flighty.

* * *

Soul tapped his foot impatiently and wiped sweat from his forehead as he came to realize that Patty was _ten minutes late._ He was glad that he told her to come an hour early, knowing how bad she was with times. She finally burst into the door when he was just about to call. Her hair, short and dyed half pink-the other half was left blonde-was messily tangled and held back with a clip. She was short, but her long legs made up for that. Her face looked almost exactly like Liz's, only she smiled more and didn't have frown lines or crazy eyes.

"Eyyy, wassup, Evans?" Patty asked, slightly giggling. Soul wondered if she was drunk, but decided that if she was, she was always drunk. Because this was how she always acted.

"Mmm...nothing much, just waiting for yoU!" he steamed. "Ten minutes late!" he said, jabbing a finger at the clock and gritting his teeth.

"Damn, you sound like my boss," she chuckled, walking past him to see Mary. Soul took in a deep breath and tried to cool down a bit more before leaving to pick Maka up. He decided that a movie would be the least awkward place they could go, so he bought tickets for some new chick flick. _All girls like chick flicks, I mean, they're named after chicks! She's gotta like it. _he thought. He watched the incredibly descriptive commercial for the movie when he was watching football, so he figured that maybe there'd be a few sex moments. It was rated R, after all, so it is possible.

After he told Patty where everything was, even though she already knew, he ran out the door and sped over to Maka's house. It was a fairly medium-sized house compared to Soul's cramped apartment. It was painted blue and had rose bushes lining the walkway to the door. Soul composed himself before ringing the doorbell and waiting. Maka opened the door slowly and smiled at him. He complimented her and stepped inside as she gestured, marveling at the decorations.

The front door led to a large dining room with a chandelier and some book shelves. The dining room was part of a kitchen with so many appliances and odd machines that Soul couldn't even name, and also book shelves. The living room was sectioned off from the kitchen and had a huge television with lightly colored glass balls hanging from the ceiling. Oh, and also book shelves. Book shelves, book shelves, everywhere you look...shelves...

"I see you read," he muttered, smirking. Maka rolled her eyes.

"It's only what consumes my entire day. That, and dealing with a bunch of five-year-olds," she concluded. Soul smiled. Her immense nerdiness was just so cute to him.

"So, let's get going! I decided that the movies would probably be the least awkward place to go," Soul remarked, eying an expensive-looking gold statue of a cat placed on one of the book shelves. As they were finally making their way to the car, Soul noticed the dark, gloomy clouds that were covering the night stars.

"Looks like it's gunna rain," he said, opening the passenger door for her. She nodded and stepped in. They conversed on their way to the movie theater, making Soul very nervous.

"So, how is Mary doing?" Maka asked. Soul's mind flicked back to her bleeding head that morning.

"She's...okay," he said, biting his lip.

"She's bone thin," Maka said, staring out the window. he knew she didn't mean that in an accusative way, but that was how he took it.

"She...doesn't eat much. she's never hungry, and doesn't like much of anything," he sighed. Maka nodded.

"Give it time," she said. "She'll want to eat more as she ages." Soul decided to trust that statement. It was kind of quiet after they talked about Mary, but once the were finally seated in the theater, Soul was coming up with all sorts of topics he could've used and didn't. He sighed. It was too late now, anyways.

The movie was kind of boring for Soul. He didn't pay attention to much of it, but he got the jist of what it was about. A girl met a guy. They fell in love. The girl had a kid that was already in third grade. She had some kind of cancer or something. She eventually died. The guy started a hospital named after the girl. There was also these gifts that the guy was getting from his dead grandfather that turned him into a better man or something. All Soul really knew was that Maka was crying by the end of it and he had to pull her into a hug for the ending to shut her up because people were giving them nasty looks.

As they were driving home, Soul had a weird, excited feeling in his tummy. It was pouring rain, and lightning was crashing in the sky. They saw more than one tree fall, and it scared Maka. Soul laid his arm on her shoulders and stopped in her driveway to walk her into the house.

"You can't go home by yourself!" she insisted.

"But the babysitter won't stay with Mary all night!" Soul said.

"Do you really think any sane person would really want to leave the comfort of an apartment to risk their life in a storm?!" Maka said, almost eager to make him stay. This just made Soul crack up.

"I think you just don't want to be here alone," he said, smirking. He was right. She didn't. Eventually, she just ended up in the car with him again, driving back to his house, which was only about ten minutes away. They sloshed into the house and planted themselves on the couch, sighing. Patty walked in, holding a beer.

"What-why are you drinking my beer?!" Soul demanded, his eyebrow twitching. Patty just laughed and jutted her thumb to a table full of empty cans.

"Mary went to bed about an hour ago," she slurred. Soul squeezed his eyes shut.

"So you got drunk off of my beer," he said. She nodded, a smile consuming her face. Maka looked horrified. Patty was about to say something else, but she dropped the can and fell to the floor, asleep.

"Well, that was that," he said after hauling her body onto a chair.

"You allowed _her_ to babysit?!" Maka asked, still horrified. Soul shrugged.

"She the kid's aunt. I gotta let her see _some_ of her family, if not her mother," he said. Maka pursed her lips and decided not to say anything else.

"You wanna sleep in the bed?" he asked, pointing to a room with a closed door on the opposite side of Mary's room. "It's much more comfortable than that couch." Maka opened her mouth to argue, but her sleepiness finally hit her and she nodded. Soul chuckled and lifted her into his arms to carry her into the small room. There wasn't much in it. White walls and a black bedspread and white carpet and a black lamp with a white shade but black curtains hanging over white-paneled windows. The room as a whole looked like a chess board.

They changed into pajamas and climbed in together. "You wanna cuddle?" Soul asked teasingly. Maka giggled and snuggled up in his arms, sighing. All was fine and dandy until the crash of a broken lamp jutted them both awake. And what they saw next was the most terrifying thing they could even imagine at that point.

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**_MWAHAHAHA! CLIFF HANGER! Yeah I finished writing this really late so don't be mean to me. . I'm going to bed, suckers. Night. Review, follow, or favorite for a shout-out in my next chapter! Okey I love you good night._**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hey guys! Shout-outs to: Fan-Girl-Lover, SnowTamashi Ai, marxcat123, sk8erwolf, FruityUnicorn01, Jess, roro213412, rain89, Depyriouse, 61983, Alex Drache, Angel of deaths darkness, Arkangelsouls, KishinHunter, SOULxMAKAxFOREVER, Xingnai, kleptokat, and myusernamehasbeentaken. (I would like to say that that last username was awesome XD) OKAY this author's note is way too long. TO THE STORY!_**

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Everything happened so fast. One second Soul and Maka were on a blissful journey into sleep; the next a person was grabbing at their throats and screaming. Soul didn't know who it was at first. All he saw was a womanly figure shouting something incoherent and knocking things to the floor. "Soul!" Maka screamed, wrapping her arms around him for protection. Soul stood up, only in his boxers, and ran over to the light switch.

The woman yelled and grabbed at his ankles, long waves of hair brushing his legs. As the light flickered on, Soul gasped and kicked by reflex. Startled, Mary bursted through the door and her face went from worries to downright horrified in less than a second.

"M-Mon?" she yelled, clinging to Soul's leg as she always did when she was frightened. Liz stood up, her face a flurry of emotions. Her left eye was twitching and she had a sickening grin on her face. She was wearing nothing but a revealing hospital gown and slippers, Soul noticed with terror. _How the fuck did she escape and how long has she been gone?_ Soul wondered, backing away from the snarling girl.

"You're cheating on me!" she screamed. Terror rippled through Maka as lightning crashed outside. She quickly dove under the covers and left nothing but a small hole to peek through. Since mary was refusing to leave the room by Soul's orders, he ushered her under the covers too. Liz shouted more crazy things at him as Soul tried desperately to bring her back to her senses, but to no avail.

"Shh..." he cooed, holding his hands out in front of himself, "you're okay. You're going to be okay." After about five minutes of her screaming and Soul uttering soft words, Liz grabbed fistfulls of her own hair and slowly sank to the floor. She was crying and whispering odd phrases such as, "your fault" and, "how is she going to survive without me" and even, "just kill me already..." Mary was peeking out of the covers to watch her insane mother crumble and fall into insanity right before her innocent eyes.

Once Liz was reduced to nothing but a shaking, sniveling, defenseless woman, Soul dialed the police and explained the situation to them. He left the room, obviously so caught up in fear that he forgot about Mary and Maka stuck under his bedsheets. Liz was staring at mary, who popped her head out of the covers. Maka was far too scared to even notice what Mary was doing or what Liz was mouthing, so they just stared each other down without her.

"_He's bad,"_ was the first thing she mouthed. Mary shook her head, guessing that "he" was her father, Soul. Liz snarled and whipped her head in random directions. She was like an animal, with no real thoughts or feelings; just the want and need to end whatever relationship Mary had with Soul. Somewhere, Liz was her former self, holding onto Mary and stroking her hair and caring for her just like any other mother would. She was not crazy. She was telling her daughter about the good times, and the bad, that she had with Soul. She would convince her that she was the good guy, not him. In her sick, twisted reality, it was Soul who ran out on her, and had taken Mary with him. In her mind, he was the criminal, and he had to be punished.

Soul came back moments later and hugged Mary and Maka, who were both crying now. Liz tried to scream, but only air came out. They could hear it, nevertheless. You would guess that Mary, Maka, and Soul were a family, fending against a maniac who broke into their home. You would guess that those features on Mary came directly from Maka, and that she simply just looked more like her father. Even so, this wasn't true. They weren't a family, and that maniac that was writhing on the floor and crying was his ex wife, whom he had loved at one point. It took a while for this concept to sink into Maka's head.

"The police will be here soon," said Soul, grabbing Mary's hand and squeezing it. He was suddenly taken back to when his hands were folded around hers the night Liz left. She was still a tiny infant, so she didn't know what happened or why, but he somehow found comfort in her touch. Tears fell unwillingly from Soul's eyes and onto her face and she swiped her hands at the wet droplets like she was trying to catch them. A giggle arose in her throat, and there was nothing Soul could do but smile and kiss her forehead.

Liz rolled around on the floor, her mouth open in a scream, but her voice box failed her and only air came out. Maka's head finally surfaced above the covers and she stared at Soul, whose eyes were squeezed shut and hands were gripping his daughter's. She suddenly felt bad, as if she were intruding, but the feeling was quickly erased after he released Mary's hands to hug Maka.

The police then came in and, after exchanging a few embarrassing words with Soul, picked up Liz, who was frozen, and left. His cursed himself for not wearing any pants. Mary looked up at Soul and her big, green eyes were still filled with fear.

"Can I sleep with you, Daddy?" she asked. He nodded and looked to Maka.

"You wouldn't mind, would you?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. It'll be like a big sleepover!" she said cheerily, but her smile was forced. Mary climbed between Soul and Maka and shut her eyes. They all hugged each other and fell asleep just after a crash of lightning struck a nearby tree. Suddenly thunderstorms just weren't as scary anymore.

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When the sun rose over the buildings and was high in the sky, light poured through the window and turned last night's events into some horrible dream. The white walls were lit up, and everything seemed cheerier. Mary carefully stepped over the spot next to the bed that Liz freaked out on and made her way to the living room to watch cartoons.

The channel numbers were written on a small square of paper and she punched the numbers in. Spongebob appeared on the screen and was cackling away, making her feel less alone. She coughed for a few minutes and wiped the blood off on her nightgown. It left a red smear, but she didn't notice. She just went back to playing with her toys.

Soul had inched closer to Maka, who was still sleeping, and draped an arm around her. She woke up instantly, so Soul pretended to be asleep and hugged her closer to him. She blushed, as he was only in his boxers, and she'd never been touched that way. He scooted _even closer_ and closed off any space that existed between them. She could feel his heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of his chest; his hair brushed her cheek and made her shiver.

"Uhh...Soul?" she whispered, poking his belly. He groaned and rolled over on top of her, his head landing right next to where his lips just grazed the tip of her ear.

"U-Uhh..._Soul?_" she whispered slightly louder, like how people loudly whisper to screamo music. He just groaned again in response.

"It's not a school day, Mary," he yawned, snuggling up to Maka even more, Her cheeks flushed.

"Y-You're awake, aren't you?" she snapped, the weight of his body pressing down on her.

"Come on! This is only our first date, remember?" she was laughing now. "How'd you fall for me _this_ hard?" He smiled and slipped his hands under her back to hug her properly.

"I just saw you, I guess, and I knew i had to see more of you," he said simply, and kissed her cheek. She rolled her eyes at his sappiness and hugged him back.

"It's only our first date, though, so-" Soul cut her off with, "And yet we've been through so much together..." What Maka was going to say was, "...so don't try anything with me." But he _was_ right. They had only met a week ago and they acted like old best friends that knew every single little detail about one another. It was strange, though, because she actually _did_ feel like she's known him for a long time.

Soul suddenly got up and stretched out, smiling. Maka couldn't help but stare at his perfectly shaped body-his muscles, his abs, his legs, his boxers...They were red with little flecks of white on them that reminded her of falling snow. He caught her eye and smirked.

"Like what you see?" he chuckled, stretching his hands down his back. Maka blushed and looked away, but she smiled when he wasn't looking. Soul threw a robe over his shoulders and twisted the doorknob.

"I'm gunna make some coffee...You want anything? I think we have tea," he offered. Maka nodded and followed him out of the room and to the kitchen. Mary was arranging her stuffed animals by size, color, shape, and species. It made Maka smile because sorting was a lesson she had taught the class. _Unimportant? I think not, Miss Campbell!_ she thought.

Maka sat down at the small table in the center of the room as Soul started making the drinks, filling the room with a strong aroma of tea leaves and coffee beans.

"So you want me to just take you home?" Soul asked as he set her cup down in front of her. She took a sip and nodded.

"I have papers to grade and cats to feed," she replied. They sat together and finished their drinks before Soul put on some pants and loaded everyone into the car to take her home. Everything was going perfect. It all just felt so..._right._ So right, until Soul noticed the stain of red on Mary's nightgown.

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**_YAAAAAY! I hope I put you in suspense. :3 review, follow, or favorite for a shout-out in my next chapter! ^_^ Byebye!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Haven't been on, have I? Huh. Well, anyways, shout-outs to: animeandmangafangirl, martinez19, Anime-girl847, Angel of deaths darkness, BeriForeverFan, darkangel565, Kim Dreamcatcher, Modzter, sprout808, and FluffiestPanda. Yaaay okay to the story!_**

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Soul stared at his daughter with an intensity that sent a shiver down her small spine. She had no clue what he was staring at, or why he looked so horrified. She looked around her whole body, but found nothing that would interest her eyes enough to stare at for what seemed like ten minutes. "Mary," he said, his voice shaken and cracking. Mary tilted her head.

"Yes, Papa?" she asked. His eyes flickered from the blood on her nightgown and back to her eyes in a tenth of a second. He took a deep breath and pressed his lips in a tight line.

"You have a stain on your nightgown," his voice was completely calm. It was composed and rang in her head for a while as she processed this question. She searched herself before finding where she had wiped the blood from her cough on her pajamas.

"Yes," she answered, confirming his suspicions.

"Where you eating something?" his voice cracked on that last syllable, giving his calm charade away. Mary shook her head and stared out the window.

"I coughed," she said finally as the silence was eating her up. Soul's eyes grew wide with terror and he bit the inside of his cheek.

"Mary, sweetie, when did this happen? This morning? Why didn't you come tell me, like we agreed?" he asked. Mary just shrugged.

"You were with Maka," she responded. Soul pursed his lips and shook his head.

"That's no reason for you to ignore your own blood," he said, his voice cracking on the word "blood." She shrugged. That did it. Soul pulled out of Maka's driveway with haste and sped down the road. The speedometer was reaching new heights, and Mary was started to fret.

"Papa! Slow down!" she yelped, panic clear in her shrill voice. Soul narrowed his eyes and gripped the steering wheel to where his veins were popping out. The speedometer didn't budge. Mary whimpered and shrank down in her seat, not wanting to see the scenery around her whip past at such speeds. She was confused, and wanted answers. Soul always freaked out when Mary bled, but she didn't know why.

She bled all the time; this was normal to her. But as soul whipped into their own driveway and slammed the gear into park, she knew there was something wrong with her. Her father never took her to the doctor; he relied completely on home remedies and Band-Aids. He said that doctors were creepy and uncool, Mary remembered.

Soul stepped out of the car and gathered Mary in his arms, slamming the door behind him as he ran hastily inside. He kept muttering things like "She's okay...she's going to be okay..." under his breath as he sat her down on the seat of the toilet and studied her blood stain. It had soaked right through the clothes and stained her skin beneath. He figured it was a _lot_ of blood that was in her lungs. He closed his eyes and held her hand, breathing deeply. he never was good with blood. After a few moments, he opened them again and got up.

"Mary, can you cough for me?" he asked in a calm, composed manner. She nodded and forced a cough, blood spurting from her mouth and into the hand she held up. Soul's face filled with worry as he ran his hands through his hair, trying to remember every single homeopathic remedy he could think of that could possibly help this situation. He eventually remembered something about using thyme to relieve cough, but he dismissed that thought and decided that the blood was the worst part of this.

"How long have you been coughing up blood?" he demanded, not bothering to try and mask the terror in his voice anymore. It was too hard to strain his voice from wavering or cracking. Mary shrugged.

"I always have?" It sounded more like a question than an answer. He didn't say anything; just stood there, staring into her eyes with such an intensity that she couldn't help but feel comfortable.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering. Soul's face softened as he shook his head and turned around. He bit his lip and stared out the window, thinking and going over his options a second time. Finally, he turned to face her again.

"Mary?" She looked up and stared at his face. "Yes?"

"I need you to promise me something," he said, biting his lip again.

"What is it?"

"The next time any tiny droplet of blood comes from your body, you are to come and tell me immediately, and you may not wait until I wake up, or until the game on television is over. You will tell me _as soon as it happens._ Got it?" She nodded, staring at her hands folded in her lap. He exhaled, and his face resumed its tense, worried composure.

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It was a few of days after Maka left Soul's house. Mary was being picked up after her third day at school without her father there, and she seemed to be doing fine. Maka walked out of the classroom herself and kneeled against his car as he rolled the window down.

"Miss me?" Soul asked, smirking. His posture radiated self-esteem and smugness. She chuckled lightly.

"Hardly," she replied, smirking herself. He peered down at her through his sunglasses.

"So, how is Mary doing? She's kind of quiet in class," Maka said, looking over to the small child that was flinging herself into the car and struggling with the seat belts. Soul's mouth crumpled at one side and he shook his head.

"She's...okay," he said, struggling to find the words he needed. Maka nodded and stared down at the pavement.

"You know...Today during nap time, she coughed in her sleep," she muttered. Soul stiffened and his expression turned to stone.

"I had to bring her to the lavatory to clean her up," she continued, ignoring his hostility. "I think you should consider taking her to a doctor." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"No."

"I really think it would benefit-" Maka started to say.

"The doctor," Soul cut her off. "It would only benefit the doctor. And if you think that I'm taking her there, well you couldn't be more damn wrong!" His voice shot up three octaves during that sentence, it seemed. Mary shrank back in her car seat. Maka stared at him with anger.

"Fine. She's not my child," she said, dismissing his rudeness. "So it won't be my fault if she really does have Leukemia." Soul tensed up at the word.

"She does not have Leukemia!" he shouted, now staring right back at her. "She's fine. And she's too young to know, anyways." Maka shook her head at his ignorance and decided to let the situation slip. As she turned to walk away, Soul suddenly realized what he was doing.

"Wait! Maka!" he said, leaning out the car door. The clouds above were beginning to become heavy, just on the verge of rain. A few tears dropped from the depressed sky, making the whole thing more dreary. Maka spun on her heel to face him again, lowering her eyelids in impatience.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "For yelling, I mean. I guess..." he craned his neck towards Mary, "I should take her to a professional. But I won't, I can't. I have a fear of doctors." It sounded like he was pleading, for some reason. Maka raised her eyebrow.

"It's true! But, um..." he stared down at her shirt, which was now dotted with the tears of the sky. The tears of Mary.

"We should go do something; tomorrow, I mean. You know, because it's a holiday, right?" he said, mustering a smile. She scrunched her nose and sighed.

"It's not a holiday, Soul. You know that. But I suppose after class is over..." she thought for a moment, weighing her options. Soul nodded.

"I could go to your house at like...Four? We could go see a movie with Mary or something," he suggested, putting on a brave front for his daughter. Although, it was probably already too late for brave fronts. Mary was too smart for that, and he knew it.

Maka threw a lopsided grin towards him and shrugged. "Sure, I'm down." Mary smiled, glad that the conversation had taken a nice turn. Soul nodded in her direction.

"See you tomorrow, then," he confirmed, and hit the gear to back up. Maka stood in the rain that was now increasing to watch him take his leave.

Once she was out of sight, Mary narrowed her eyes at Soul and grinned. "You like her, don't you?" she teased, carrying out the words "like" and "you." Soul rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. All that "like" stuff is past us. I'm way past "like" by now," he said, chuckling.

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**_A shitty chapter for a shitty day! ^_^ Hope you enjoy it, nonetheless. Please review, follow, or favorite for a shout-out! :3 Bye-byes!_**


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